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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27281068">Caged In Your Chest</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuickSilverFox3/pseuds/QuickSilverFox3'>QuickSilverFox3</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [18]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Old Guard (Movie 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Agoraphobia, Claustrophobia, Drabble Collection, Established Relationship, F/F, Family Feels, Fear, Found Family Feels, Frigophobia, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Panic Attacks, Paranoria, thalassophobia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:42:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>999</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27281068</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuickSilverFox3/pseuds/QuickSilverFox3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“This will pass,” Nicky murmured, brushing his cheek against Joe’s, tucking his head beneath his chin. The touch was grounding, something to focus on other than the rising tide of panic slowly choking him.</p><p>[No 18. PANIC! AT THE DISCO Panic Attacks | Phobias | Paranoia]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Andy | Andromache &amp; Booker | Sebastien &amp; Nile Freeman &amp; Joe | Yusuf &amp; Nicky | Nicolò, Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko, Booker | Sebastien le Livre/Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Booker | Sebastien le Livre/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Lykon &amp; Quynh | Noriko</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [18]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947016</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Caged In Your Chest</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>~It's the final countdown *off key kazoo*~</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Shouting woke Nile, plucking her from dreams of saltwater filling her lungs into the waking world. Her fingers seemed to be fused to her gun and uncurling them took every inch of her strength.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was no shouting. She knew that, and yet…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The floorboards were cold beneath her bare feet, a shiver running up her spine as she paced. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The corridor outside was empty, air sticky on her skin. Nile opened every door, peering into the gloom that lay beyond each threshold.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She knew there was nothing there, but something kept driving her onwards, unable to let her rest. </span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Up.” Andy issued the order as coldly as she could, kicking a boot against the chair Booker had fallen asleep in. He crashed to the floor with a yelp, arms flailing; Andy’s stomach twisting for a moment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But she couldn’t afford to dwell on that twinge of guilt, throwing what few supplies they had unpacked back into their bags.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s going on?” Joe’s voice was thick with sleep.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We have to leave. Now.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She loved them fiercer as they simply moved, gathering up their items without complaint, but not fast enough. The panic burned in her stomach, almost overwhelming.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Joe’s fingers traced careful circles over Nicky‘s knuckles, easily keeping pace with the other man as Nicky tugged him into another alleyway.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Habibi, you’ve gone pale,” he murmured, words almost lost beneath the frantic pounding of Nicky‘s heat in his ears.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That man,” Nicky hissed, adjusting his grip on Joe’s hand, squeezing to the point of pain, “He’s been following us.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re safe.” Joe pulled Nicky to a stop just long enough to kiss him, trying to smooth away the fear gripping him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t lose you,” Nicky whispered against Joe’s lips, leaning into him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know. Shall we continue?”</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Andy groaned, the sound ripped from her throat, as she flopped to the ground next to the bed, knees cracking like they never had before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You sound like shit.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Quynh has told her of the fear that gripped her late one night, her lip healing around the press of her teeth, blood coating her hands as she trembled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her exile was over, but the world was too big, too loud, too much. Quynh was trapped once again by her own mind. It had been her escape while she had been trapped in the coffin, trapping her when she was free.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not swimming?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Booker let himself uncurl just enough for Joe to kiss him, tasting salt and sunshine on his lips, a shudder rattling up his spine despite the warmth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t,” he said finally, shrinking back beneath the parasol as Joe curled next to him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Booker licked his lips, tasting the salt and stared out at the ocean. He didn’t speak of Quynh anymore, silenced by the grief that five centuries couldn’t temper on Andy’s face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They thought she was trapped in the dark. Booker didn’t know if it was better or worse that she wasn’t. But it terrified him.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was the cold that woke him. For a moment, Booker thought he was dreaming, could hear the creak of the rope, the cawing of the crows circling high overhead. The fear was paralysing, a slow creep of ice through his veins, shuddering violently beneath the thin blankets. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The light flicked off in the kitchen, and Booker flinched back, a broken noise falling from his throat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nicky paused, moving towards Booker’s bed. “Bad dreams?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was easy to nod, easier to let Nicky slip beneath the blankets with him, taste the chocolate on his lips, anything to stop the cold.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Go!” Andy laughed, elbowing Joe out of the door, nudging Nile out after him. It clicked closed behind them, and she drifted to the window to watch the trio walk down the street, Nile’s arms linked with the two men.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sighed, feeling the panic well up in her chest again, a flood she was unable to hold back for much longer, so she let it wash over her, knowing it would pass. Her chest ached, trapped screams vibrating in her throat. Dimly, she realised that she was curled on the floor, nails digging into the palms of her hands.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Quynh?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lykon’s face was blurred as he peered down at her, the shadows of the cave carving hollows from his cheeks and she screamed until she ran out of breath. It didn’t feel real, the weight of the earth pressing down on her, walls closing in around her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t breathe, the cloying earth ripping the air from her lungs until she was gasping, bile hot and acrid, burning her nose.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Get. Out.” The words were distorted, faded from the ringing in her ears but she had to try or she was going to die. “I need to get out.”</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Easy, diletto.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Joe let himself go limp, collapsing into Nicky’s arms. His hands were trembling, a distant ringing in his ears blocking out all sound, except Nicky’s voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This will pass,” Nicky murmured, brushing his cheek against Joe’s, tucking his head beneath his chin. The touch was grounding, something to focus on other than the rising tide of panic slowly choking him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stay with me,” Joe choked out, grabbing hold of Nicky’s hands, the metal of his rings warmed by his skin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I will,” Nicky promised, rocking them both in the sunshine from the window, humming low in his throat.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The lights flashed in every colour imaginable, spotlights shifting through the constantly moving crowd. Apprehension bubbled in Nile’s throat as she slipped through, bass pounding in her chest like a heartbeat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A pretty girl, bright neon paint forming patterns over her dark skin, caught her arm, drawing her in for a kiss, their teeth knocking together for a moment. Nile’s panic left her, hands falling on the other girl’s waist.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stop taking surveillance tips from Joe and Nicky.” Booker’s voice was amused, barely concealed laughter echoing over the radio. Nile drew back just enough to flip off his vantage point.</span>
</p>
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